The present invention generally relates to rotary tools or machine that generate debris when working on a surface, such as drilling, cutting or sanding, and more particularly relates to accessory attachments which collect debris generated by such tools or machines.
Holes are typically cut in walls and other surfaces using a hand-operated drill with cutting or drilling attachments, such as hole saws, drill bits, and spade bits having a cutting or drill end and an arbor end with a polygonal cross-section which can be gripped by a drill chuck. Because drills and other hole-cutting tools produce dust and debris during the drilling or cutting operation, shields have been designed to fit onto the drill for collecting the dust and debris as it is being generated. Typically, these collectors use a bellows cup which can flex in the axial direction as the drill or cutting tool advances into the cutting surface. One such collector is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,561, issued to Robert May, which discloses a bellows-shaped rubber boot that fits over the end of the drill behind the drill's rotating chuck. The boot is provided with a rubber outlet tube integrally formed in the side of the boot to which a vacuum can be connected. Other than by breaking the seal between the boot and the work surface, the boot disclosed in the May patent provides no facility for air intake or for providing air flow through the boot. The lack of air intake prevents the boot from being efficiently evacuated on a continuous basis as the cutting implement advances through the work surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,921,375, to Giovanni Famulari discloses a similar bellows-type collector. The Famulari collector is fitted to the frame of a drill and is provided with a relatively complicated internal impeller mechanism for moving collected debris into a collection bag. In Famulari, some air intake is provided for at the rim of the bellows by small holes around the circumference of the rim that can be easily clogged and that have no adjustment capability.
In both May and Famulari the collector bellows is designed to be an extension of the drill housing and does not provide for the accommodation of different types and sizes of tools.
The need exists for a debris shield that can be used with hand drills, rotary sanders, drill presses and-the like, that is easy to use, and that can accommodate different drilling or cutting implements. A need also exists for a debris shield that can provide a vacuum port in combination with efficient and adjustable air flow within the collection chamber when the device is sealed against a work surface, and that provides for accessible and secure attachment of a vacuum hose to the vacuum port. A need still further exists for a debris shield that provides efficient sealing contact between the debris shield and the work surface.